Detachable hanger



Nov. 7, 1961 L. E. HAMEL 3,007,666

DETACHABLE HANGER Filed Feb. 2, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.

LEW/5 E. HAMEL INVENT OR.

A ana-21m ATTORNEY Nov. 7, 1961 1.. E. HAMEL DETACHABLE HANGER 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 2, 1961 Fig; 7

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g. F ig. 5

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E. HA MEL ENTOR.

INV

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,007,666 DETACHABLE HANGER Lewis E. Hamel, Rochester, N.Y., assignor to Lewis E. Hamel Co., Inc, Rochester, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Feb. 2, 1961, Ser. No. 86,742 Claims. (Cl. 248-317) This invention relates to a detachable hanger having the capacity for supporting loads from 250 lbs. to 1000 lbs. or more, as for instance in transporting sides of beef in cars or trucks, and has for its purpose to provide an improved hanger which can be readily secured to the side of beef or other object and easily attached to the permanent support on which it is mounted.

In the handling of sides of beef for shipping, the conventional practice heretofore has been to employ S-shaped metal hangers which have various objections, principal among which is the tendency for the hanger during transit to permit the side of beef to become separated from the hanger and fall to the fioor of the car, resulting in substantial loss in meat that has been thus dropped during transportation.

Another objection to the S-shaped metal hanger is the weight and initial cost of such hangers, also the fact that they must be sterilized, and are unsanitary. Still another objection to the use of such hangers is the difficulty and time required in securing them to sides of beef and attaching them to the permanent supports, also the danger and frequent injuries resulting from contact with such hangers which are sometimes pointed at their extremities.

A principal purpose of the invention is to reduce the cost of the operation by providing .a hanger that can more readily be attached to the load to be carried and which reduces the loss from down beef, also speeding the opera- 3,007,666 Patented Nov. 7, 1961 ice sition with the two ends separated and before attachment to a side of beef;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation illustrating the position of the ends after they are interlockingly engaged one with the other as in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an edge elevation of the end including a single loop-shaped member looking from right to left of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an edge elevation partially in section of the other end portion including two spaced parallel loopshaped members looking from right to left of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is an edge elevation of the hanger with the ends interlocked as in FIG. 3, and looking from left to right of FIG. 3, and

FIG. 7 is an edge elevation partially in section of the end including a single loop-shaped member and looking in a direction opposite to that of FIG. 4.

Referring more particularly to the drawings in which like reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the several views, the structure herein shown is illustrative of one practical embodiment of the invention, and is preferably molded from a plastic material such as nylon, which imparts a certain amount of resilience and yieldability to the finished product while giving the required degree of resistance and strength.

FIG. 2 illustrates the device after molding and before attachment and consisting of a body portion 1 that is bent upon itself and terminates in two separable ends which are movable one toward the other by pressing them together. One end includes two parallel spaced symmetrical loopshaped members 2 and 3 respectively, while the other end includes a single loop-shaped member 4 which is symmetrical with the members 2 and 3 and is movable into the space between the first mentioned loop-shaped mem tion of attaching the hanger to a side of beef, and greatly reducing the cost of production of a hanger.

More particularly the invention has for its objective to provide a hanger made of plastic or other resilient material such as nylon, of such form as to carry relatively heavy loads and of such low cost as to make it disposable so that it need be used only once as compared with the metal hangers which are frequently used many times.

Still another purpose of the invention is to provide such a detachable hanger in one piece and consisting preferably of a body portion having two separable interlocking ends, one including two spaced parallel loop-shaped members and the other including an intermediate single loopshaped member which is movable into a position between the two loop-shaped members and which automatically interlocks therewith as it is moved into such intermediate position.

A further purpose of the invention is to provide such a detachable hanger in which the ends are gripped and moved toward each other by the operator after being secured to the side of beef or other load, and at the limits of such movement are interlockingly engaged one with the other by cooperating means on the two ends.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts that will appear clearly from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

1 In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the hanger arranged on a suitable fixed support and attached to a side of beef as when being transported in a freight car 0 truck;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the changer in molded pobers 2 and 3 which position it occupies after the hanger is attached to the side of beef or other object to be supported.

In operation, the device can be attached to a side of beef by inserting one of the ends therethrough, after which the loop-shaped members are gripped and pressed together into locked engagement and can then be suspended on any suitable support such as a metal hook in a car or truck.

The symmetrical loop-shaped members are so constructed that when moved into locked relation, they are in alinement at both their outer and inner edges, and in order to retain the loop-shaped members in alined relation after they are moved toward each other, the single loop-shaped member is provided with an integral latch 5 extending laterally from both sides beyond the edges of the loop shaped member as illustrated in FIGS. 4, 6,.and .7. The latch 5 is tapered, as indicated at 6, and thus readily enters between the adjacent loop-shaped members 2 and 3 which yield laterally sufliciently to permit the single loop-shaped member 4 to pass between the two outer loop-shaped members 2 and 3 until they are all alined as in FIGS. 3 and 6, at which time the latch 5 overlies the outer edges of the loop-shaped members 2 and 3 and retains the intermediate loop-shaped member 4 in locked relation to the adjacent and outer loop-shaped members 2 and 3. The hanger with the object attached can then be suspended from any suitable metal or other support 7, see FIG. 1.

When it is desired to remove the supported object from the hanger, the outer loop-shaped members 2 and 3 are spread laterally away from the single loop-shaped member 4 sufficiently to release the latch, whereupon the single loop-shaped member 4 springs away from its intermediate position between the loop-shaped members 2 and 3 until it resumes a position with the ends separated, and the hanger can then be removed from the side of beef or the supported object.

Referring to FIGS. 2, 4, and 5, the body portion of the hanger and the loop-shaped members are each A thick, and the bottom of the hanger is formed on a 1 inch radius. In order to aline the loops when in locked position, the loops are so formed that center lines through the loops extending from. a point 78" from the inner surface of the bottom of the body portion, see FIG. 2, are each at an angle of to the center line of the hanger. The loop-shaped members each extend 2" from its outer end to the bottom of the loop. The two spaced parallel loop-shaped members 2 and 3 are each in width with a space between them of see FIG. 5, while the single loop-shaped member is in width at its outer end and tapers to a width of at its inner end, permitting it to move readily between the two outer spaced parallel loop-shaped members 2 and 3. The body portion of the hanger is /2 in width and the distance from the outer end of each loop-shaped member to the opposite end of the body portion of the hanger is 7", see FIG. 2. The outer surfaces of the two loop-shaped members taper downwardly commencing at a point A below the bottom of the space between the two loop-shaped members to the 1 inch width of the body portion.

The above dimensions are preferred and critical in attaining eflicient operation of the device and desired resistance to continued usage and wear, although the invention is not necessarily restricted to the exact dimensions herein disclosed and may be varied if dimensions which depart from the disclosure are found to afford the desired efiiciency and the necessary structural characteristics to produce a practical structure having the desired qualities of wear, strength, and economy in production.

While the invention has been described in relation to a preferred embodiment, it is not confined to the details herein set forth and this application is intended to cover such departures or modifications as may come within the purposes of the improvement or the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A detachable hanger of resilient plastic material comprising a body portion bent upon itself and terminating in ends one of which includes two loop-shaped members which are in spaced parallel relation and the other of which includes a single loop-shaped member that is movable into the space between the first mentioned loopshaped members.

2. A detachable hanger of resilient plastic material comprising a body portion bent upon itself and terminating in separable ends, one of which includes spaced parallel loop-shaped members and the other of which includes a single loop-shaped member that is positionable between and in alinement with the aforementioned loop-shaped members.

3. A detachable hanger of resilient plastic material comprising a body portion bent upon itself and terminating in separable ends, one of which includes spaced parallel loop-shaped members and the other of which includes a single loop-shaped member that is positionable between the aforementioned loop-shaped members, all of said loop-shaped members being symmetrical and in alinement when in locked relation.

4. A detachable hanger of resilient plastic material comprising a body portion bent upon itself and terminating in ends one of which includes two loop-shaped members and the other of which includes a single loop-shaped member movable into the space between the first mentioned loop-shaped members, said loop-shaped members being symmetrical and in alinement when in locked relation, said single loop-shaped member having a thickness permitting frictional engagement with the two loopshaped members.

5. A detachable hanger of resilient plastic material comprising a body portion bent upon itself and terminating in ends one of which includes spaced parallel loopshaped members and the other of which includes a single loop-shaped member that is movable into the space between the first mentioned loop-shaped members, and locking means on one of said loop-shaped members automatically engageable with another of said loop-shaped members when moved toward the same and acting to retain said loop-shaped members in locked relation.

6. A detachable hanger of resilient plastic material comprising a body portion bent upon itself and terminating in ends one of which includes two loopshaped members in spaced parallel relation and the other of which includes a single loop-shaped member that is movable into the space between the first mentioned loop-shaped members, and locking means carried by said single loop-shaped member and engageable with said two loop-shaped members when they are together and acting to hold said loopshaped members in locked relation.

7. A detachable hanger of resilient plastic material comprising a body portion bent upon itself and terminating in separable ends one of which includes two loopshaped members in spaced parallel relation and the other of which includes a single loop-shaped member movable into the space between the first mentioned loop-shaped members and having a thickness greater than the thickness of either of said two loop-shaped members and fitting frictionally into the space between said two loop-shaped members, said single loop-shaped member having a tapered latching device integral therewith extending beyond its edges and overlying the adjacent loop-shaped members when in alined relation therewith, said two loopshaped members being yieldable and movable from under said latching device to permit separation of said ends.

8. A detachable hanger of resilient plastic material comprising a body portion bent upon itself and terminating in separable ends, one of which includes two loopshaped members in spaced parallel relation and the other of which includes a single loop-shaped member movable into the space between the first mentioned loop-shaped members, said body portion and loop-shaped members being of substantially the same thickness throughout, the width of said body portion being greater than the width of said single loop-shaped member and greater than the width of said two loop-shaped members, one of said loop-shaped members having latching means that automatically engages one of the other loop-shaped members when the single loop-shaped member is moved into the space between said two loop-shaped members.

9. A detachable hanger of resilient plastic material comprising a body portion bent upon itself and with which an article to be supported can be detachably engaged, said body portion terminating in separable ends one of which includes spaced parallel loop-shaped members and the other of which includes a single loop-shaped member positionable between said spaced parallel loopshaped members, and a tapered latching device formed integrally with said single loop-shaped member and movable into locking relation with said two loop-shaped members, the latter being yieldable laterally to permit said tapered latch member to move therebetween and manually movable laterally to permit separation of said ends.

10. A detachable hanger of resilient plastic material comprising a body portion bent upon itself and terminating in separable ends including loop-shaped members movable in straight lines in spaced parallel planes toward and away from each other and latching means on one of said loop-shaped members engageable with the other loop-shaped member when they are moved together and acting automatically to hold them in locked relation.

McIntyre Jan. 3, 1933 Wrobel Dec. 1, 1959 

